Brother's Keeper
by RainyDayKids
Summary: Nico and Will are adopted siblings but for all the fun Will lets him have he might as well be another parent. Then there are the punishments...
1. Chapter 1

This is more like the middle of a storyline than the beginning but whatever. And it's super short. Also Will and Nico are brothers but adopted so it's kinda incesty? Just putting the warning out there.

* * *

"Pass it to me."

Aaron passed it over. Nico di Angelo gratefully took a long hit but it turned out to be the wrong time because right at that moment, the school door to the parking lot opened and Will Solace just had to walk out.

"Oh shit," Nico cursed and tried to hide the joint behind him but it was too late. Will had spotted him and the lingering smoke curling in the air. His blue eyes widened then lighted with anger and he marched straight towards him with determination in every step.

"Here," Nico regretfully gave the shared joint back to one of the guys. He didn't need to take another look at Will to know he was definitely in trouble.

Travis chuckled. "Guess we'll see you around Nico."

"Or not," Connor grinned. "If Will decides to ground you." The circle of guys laughed while Nico grit his teeth. His friends had always found it funny how much parental control his brother had over him but they had no idea.

"Nico," Will growled through clenched teeth. "Come with me. Now." The blonde didn't even give him a chance to move as he grabbed his arm in a tight grip and dragged him away.

Will dragged him through the empty school hallways. The building was practically empty now that classes had ended. Thankfully this meant no one besides him was there to hear Will berating him loudly.

"…and after last time! What did I tell you…"

Finally, Will dragged him an empty classroom and slammed the door shut behind them, making sure to lock it.

"God Will, relax! it was just weed. It's not bad for you," Nico exclaimed, knowing his defense would make no difference. They had had this argument a hundred times.

"It's not okay, Nico! You can't do it!" Will went on to lecture him on the evils of all drugs but Nico had heard this speech before so he sort of tuned it out, which turned out to be a big mistake.

"Nico, are you listening to me?" Will demanded.

Nico focused his big dark eyes back on him. "No, sorry. I'm still super high." He grinned dreamily.

That did it. Will yanked him towards him where he sat on the teachers desk and bent Nico over his lap. Then brought his hand down quickly in an angry row of spanks on Nico's ass.

Nico groaned in protest but lay resigned as he received his punishment.

Finally, Will ran out of steam and let him up. Nico scowled, the spanking having effectively brought him down from his high.

Will took a deep calming breath before taking his arm. "Come on, we're going home."


	2. Chapter 2

Nico looked around, bored. He sat at a lunch table next to Will who was currently chatting with Austin and Kayla.

Nico spotted the Stoll's and watched them with interest as it appeared they were up to something, probably another one of their pranks.

He slid a little farther from Will on the bench, wondering if he could slip away unnoticed.

Without turning around, Will reached an arm around his waist and pulled him right back to his side, not even breaking his conversation.

Nico scowled. Will always got like this after he got in trouble. He'd keep him close to him for days and an eye on him at all times. He took his hand going to places like an overprotective parent with a young child.

Finally, they got up as lunch ended and students started filing out.

"Nico," Will said sternly as the dark haired boy had started moving away from them. "Stay with me," he admonished.

Nico scowled. "I'm have to get to my own class, Will."

"Then I'll walk you."

Nico gritted his teeth in resigned silence as Will took his hand and escorted him to his next class. He walked him right up to the front of the door and even waited for Nico to sit down at his desk before heading to his own class. Nico rolled his eyes.

* * *

That night, Will and Nico sat at the dinner table with their parents as they all shared stories about their day.

"So Will," Apollo cleared his throat. "How's Nico been lately?"

Nico scowled as he was in the act of passing the salad bowl. It wasn't surprising that their parents asked Will how he'd been instead of asking him as he never shared about his day unlike the rest of them. Usually Will answered 'fine' if nothing had happened but this time he knew what his brother was going to say.

"I caught him getting high after school yesterday." Will expression turned to one of disapproval as he remembered the incident.

His parents took on similarly disapproving and stern expressions as they faced Nico.

"Son, your mother and I told you we do not tolerate drugs in this house. Remember our talk about making bad decisions? Why did you do this?

Nico shrugged. The answer was simple. "He offered."

His parents didn't like this answer. "We'll talk more about this later and we'll schedule another therapy session," Naomi Solace finished the matter then turned towards their other son. "Have you punished him already?"

Will nodded, "I did."

It was an unspoken matter but their parents knew how Will punished him. And while they didn't encourage it, they allowed Will to spank him. When Nico was younger, his parents more had the job of punishing him than Will but now they rarely did and Will was the one he mostly got spanked by. Though only occasionally still as he'd gotten punished less and less as he grew older.

"Well, alright then. I think that will be enough," Naomi reasoned. Thankfully they didn't add any more punishments on top of Will's like they usually did. Though their punishments now were only grounding him or taking away his phone. His parents had stopped taking him over the knee a long while ago which Nico was thankful for.

"Now, you look after him and tell us if he gets in any more trouble," Apollo told Will.

The words were unnecessary but Will nodded anyway.

Will acted as a chaperon for Nico while they were in school. Or as Nico sarcastically thought, _his babysitter_. Their parents relied on Will to look after the youngest and give them updates on how he was doing. But Nico knew full well that even if they didn't expect him to do this, Will would still play the role of his caretaker.

* * *

It was before bedtime and Nico sat on a table while Will shined a flashlight in his eyes and took his pulse.

"Show me your wrists."

Nico held his arms out, palms facing upwards as Will examined them for any fresh cuts.

"Have you taken your meds?"

"Yes."

"All of them? The iron? The anti depressants? The sleeping pi-"

"Yes, yes and yes," Nico interrupted. There was a time when Will had controlled all his medications but that was back when he'd abused his prescription pills to get high. But now Nico had earned his trust back and he didn't do that anymore.

"Good. How do you feel?"

Nico just stared at him blankly. He didn't bother to answer this question.

Will sighed. "Okay." He gave his little brother a hug then stated, "time for bed."

Nico reveled in the warmth of the embrace for a moment before sliding off the table. He got under the covers as Will hit the lights then wasn't surprised to feel the bed dip from the other side as Will got into bed next to him. The blonde had often taken to sleeping next to him to comfort him if he woke up from nightmares instead of sleeping in his own room.

In the dark, Will wrapped his arms around Nico's waist and pulled him closer to his body. Nico wasn't mad at Will for punishing him or telling their parents. He knew his brother did it because he cared about him a lot, way more than other siblings, and he knew better than to not be grateful. Yes, sometimes Will could be too overprotective and even stricter than their parents but Nico still loved him anyway. And that was why he wrapped his arms around Will and embraced him back as they fell asleep in the dark.


	3. Chapter 3

Nico shut off the alarm a second after it started.

He could never stand the sound.

He turned to survey the profile of the boy laying next to him.

Blonde hair strewn across his forehead and pillow. Small even breaths. Still eyelids rested closed.

Nico felt familiar apathy settling into his bones. School. Long day ahead. Sigh. At least he had two free periods today.

Okay time to get out of bed. No point in waiting now that the brief peace that always clung to him from his much needed slumber had dissipated in the morning light.

Slowly slipping his feet out of bed, he felt the heavy weight of sleep on his limbs. But it was more than just sleep. It was the weight of the long day ahead of him, the weight of endless ticking seconds, shuffling papers, a cacophony of voices, the weight of the lives of everyone else, crushing down upon him. And they wondered why his posture was hunched.

Still he got out of bed. Everyday. It was a monumental, grueling task and there were even days Nico thought he might not be able to do it. But he did. He had no choice. He was shackled to his life.

Will stretched and yawned. "Good Morning."

Was it? How could Will say that? And in a cheery voice no less.

Things really must be easy for him. Except that wasn't true. Will worked as hard as anyone did.

It was hard for everyone.

But Nico wondered if it was harder for him.

* * *

"You going tonight?"

It took a second for the words to even register. Whenever he was in school, it seemed as though a thick web of haze cocooned him, slowing down anything that tried to reach him. Noises, smells, stimuli were all muffled like background static. His reaction time was always delayed.

The drugs probably weren't helping.

He turned from his locker to peer at the person next to him. Short blonde hair sticking up, blue eyes, tall, broad frame, letterman jacket- ah Jason. Of course, it was Jason.

"You mean the party?" Drew Tanaka suffered from a compulsive disorder of throwing parties every other week.

"Yeah." Jason leaned against the locker and folded his arms. "I'm taking Piper," he grinned excitedly.

Nico rolled his eyes. For whatever reason Jason had never gotten over the honeymoon phase of his relationship with Piper Mclean. Even though they'd been dating for 7 months, he still doodled her name and made heart eyes like a lovesick school boy.

Piper wasn't much better. He had seen the two holding hands as they walked down hallways with eyes only for each other.

It was sickening.

"Well I'm taking Will with me." That sounded better than Will was going chaperone him and that was the only way he'd _get_ to go to the party. He frowned. Though now that he thought about it, that sounded as though Will was his date….

"I mean as a friend; we're arriving together…" he trailed off as Jason laughed. The blonde clapped a hand on his shoulder.

"Dude I know. You're brothers." His eyes slid from Nico to someone behind him. "I'll see you at the party." He clapped his shoulder one more time before moving on to talk to a team mate.

Aaron and the Stolls were going to be at the party tonight so there was a good chance he'd score. All he had to do was separate from Will as soon as they arrived and avoid him for the rest of the night. Which was not going to be easy.


	4. Chapter 4

Will Solace and Nico di Angelo stepped onto a brick path as they stared up at the two story house looming in front of them. It was night and the street lit only by lamplight. The neighborhood was quiet save for the residence in front of them from where dull music throbbed from behind the walls. The two boys looked as dissimilar as boys could be. One was tall and blonde, wearing carefree shorts and a checkered button down open over a surf Barbados t-shirt. Sandals graced his feet. The other slender, slightly shorter and clad in a tight band tee underneath a black jacket paired with black jeans and combat boots to complete the image. His coloring was contrast in the extreme with jet black hair and bone pale skin.

The blonde took a deep breath and turned to face his companion, hands shoved casually in the pockets of his shorts. "Once we get in there-"

"Let me guess, stick close by you at all times?" Nico asked sardonically.

Will smiled a little ruefully. "Actually, I was going to say… I want you to have fun tonight." He looked down, foot kicking at some dirt. "I know I've been kind of… hard on you lately so…" he looked back up. "Enjoy yourself. Don't go overboard but have fun."

Nico blinked surprised. Then he felt guilty. Will sounded so sincere. He really did just want him to be happy for one night and here Nico was planning on going behind his back to get high. Was it really worth it?

They walked up the steps toward the open door, music growing louder. People were hanging everywhere: on the stairs, in the alcove, weaving to and from the kitchen, lined up against the walls, and splayed over the couches.

Will leaned toward him, "I'm gonna look for Austin and Kayla," he shouted over the din.

Nico nodded. "See you later."

Will cast him one last lingering look before descending into the throng of heated bodies.

Nico glanced around. He spotted Drew descending the staircase gossiping rapidly with her scantily clad girlfriends, Mitchell grinding against some guy in the corner and Jason Grace who tore his eyes off Piper to wave at him from across the room.

Nico waved back then turned at the sound of his name. "Oh hey Cecil."

"Hey man, I haven't seen you in a while…" The two caught up until they were joined shortly by Lou Ellen. Slowly, Nico made his way around the room, talking with different people. Huh, maybe he could do this, maybe he didn't need anything extra. He felt pretty fine right now. He could spend the time just catching up with people, engaging in pleasant conversation.

A hand fell on his shoulder and he almost bristled. People really needed to stop touching him.

Ellis grinned at him. "Hey man, I've been looking for you. Come on, the real party's upstairs." Nico turned and followed him, pausing on the middle of the stairs when he caught sight of Will down in the crowd. His brother was talking animatedly with Kayla and Austin. He tilted his head back and laughed at something Nico couldn't hear. He was fine and looked happy so Nico turned and kept going.

* * *

Will weaved through the aggregated clusters of inebriated teenagers in the dim hallway. He entered a room made even dimmer by the thick smoke hanging in the air. It made the room even more claustrophobic than the clumps of people everywhere. The scent of marijuana and human sweat and sex attacked his senses and Will wrinkled his nose. He passed through a doorway into a smaller bedroom. There, star-fished on the bed, was Nico. He'd shed his jacket and his pale arms seemed to glow against the dark bedspread. Will felt a tightening in his gut as he made his way over to him.

"Nico." The boy opened his eyes but didn't focus on Will. The blonde pulled out a pen flashlight and shined it in his eye. The dark pupil stayed almost completely dilated.

Will felt anger course through his core. But it was mingled with disappointment and worse, the feeling that he'd expected this to happen.

He grabbed the boy's arms, used them to draw him up and then bent and pulled him over his shoulder.

Walking back through the larger, more crowded room, Will spotted Nico's jacket draped over a chair and grabbed that too.

Walking down the stairs with the semi conscious boy over his shoulder, he heard someone whistle suggestively at them but Will ignored it.

He went out the door and into the night.


	5. Chapter 5

Will manages to maneuver him into the passenger seat. Nico plops down and just blinks and looks around like he's starting to surface from his haze.

Will shuts the door and must slam it a little harder than he intended to because he can see Nico flinch behind the window. He walks around the car and climbs into the driver's seat, closing the door behind him before he leans over to try do up Nico's seatbelt. Nico's not having it though, slapping his hands away when he tries to get the belt around him.

"I can't breathe," he insists, grabbing Will's wrists and stopping him.

Their faces are inches apart and Will stares at him steadily for a minute before leaning back to face the windshield with a controlled exhale. His hands grip the steering wheel, fingernails digging in. He wants to yell and rant but he can't do that now while Nico's still high. He wouldn't understand him.

"Look." Will turns and sees Nico pointing out the windshield. "The moon's melting right out of the sky." Will follows his gaze up to the night sky embedded with stars. The moon is there, almost full but small and unremarkable as usual. He doesn't know what Nico's talking about.

"Nico, do you have any idea how stupid that was?" he ground out. He knew it was pointless. Knew Nico wouldn't remember this conversation anyway but he couldn't help himself.

"It's a sticky night," the boy declared turning to meet his eyes. "Dude," he grabbed his shoulder. "Stars are like the streetlamps of the universe." He looks like he's having a major revelation.

Will sighs and leans his head back against the headrest. He doesn't know what he's going to do. Should he tell their parents or not?

Meanwhile, Nico's still chattering at him. "You know it's funny, when you don't sleep- the day never ends. It's just one big extended day. Time is an illusion. It's just a cycle. There is no moving foreword only light and dark, light and dark. It's gonna get lighter and I've witnessed the dark and light."

"Nico," Will says. He doesn't know why he keeps listening this.

"While the difference between us is a gaping chasm which can never be bridged. And if we try, we die falling to the bottom of these cliffs."

Will frowns before his eyes widen in shock as Nico swings a leg around to straddle his lap. He freezes as Nico rests his arms against Will's shoulders and skims his face with both hands.

" _She comes on like a rose_ ," Nico says in a low voice. He rests his head down on Will's shoulder as the blonde exhales shakily, hands holding the boy's waist to steady him.

" _But everybody knows_ ," Nico sings, nuzzling into his neck. His face feels warm against him.

" _She'll get you in Dutch_ ," he continues, tracing his lips over the prominent veins running down the blonde's throat.

" _You can look but you better not touch,_ " he whispers carefully, lips brushing his skin as he presses a kiss into Will's wildly beating pulse.

Will's mouth drops open in surprise. No. It couldn't mean _. Did Nico know?_

"What…?" he whispers and he doesn't know if he's asking about what he's saying or what he's doing.

Nico encircles his arms close around his neck, leaning his body forward. " _Poison Ivy_ " he whispers into his brother's ear.

This was too much. Will pushed the boy back. He flushed as heat rose inside him.

Nico stared straight down at him. And his eyes were half lidded but the part that Will could see looked clouded. The way the clouds looked in the night sky when the moon shined behind them.

And Will knew Nico wasn't here. Not really here, with him in the car right now. Hell, he probably wouldn't even remember any of this tomorrow. But it still didn't stop his mouth from running dry, from swallowing nervously when Nico looked him dead in the eye.

His lips part but whatever his next words are are drowned out by the sound of a loud honk as a rowdy car full of drunken partygoers drives by. "Get a room!" someone yells out. Will flinches at the loud noise as the laughing fades away.

He pulls Nico off his lap and sets him in his own seat before buckling him in. He fastens his own seatbelt and checks the rearview mirror before pulling the car out of there. Nico's head turns toward him, reaction slow. But Will quickly turns the radio on loud to drown out anymore words.

No more drugs.

* * *

Give me ideas guys cause this never had a plot really. So tell me what you want to see or what you'd like to happen and maybe I'll use it or maybe it'll give me ideas.

Oh and the song Nico's singing is Poison Ivy by The Coasters.


	6. Chapter 6

The house was dark when they finally returned. That meant their parents were already asleep. Will got out of the car, walked around to the passenger seat and opened the door for Nico. He pulled his brother out of the car and leaned him back against the car while he fished out his keys.

Nico was blinking from the cool night air but he didn't seem currently in danger of falling over so long as he was stationary. Will didn't trust him not to make a sound while they were inside though, so he hoisted him back up over his shoulder and entered the dark house quietly.

Will carried Nico up the stairs and entered the boy's room where he finally put him down.

"Think you can shower by yourself?"

Nico stumbled once he was back on his own feet and blinked slow, processing the words. "I'm sleepy," he mumbled.

Will ran a hand through his hair, thinking. His calculating gaze swept Nico up and down. "Nico did you eat anything at the party?" he asked, already guessing the answer.

"Never," the boy replied.

"Great," the blonde muttered. He sighed. "Okay, come with me." He dragged the boy into the bathroom where he ran a hot bath, then turned around to strip Nico of his clothes. Will hesitated when he got to his boxers but a quick glance at Nico's face showed the boy wasn't even paying attention, staring off somewhere to the side instead. So Will took a deep breath and quickly discarded the garment, trying not to look. He then ushered the boy into the steaming bath and got out the soap.

Nico moaned once his body was submerged in the heated water, tilting his head back and closing his eyes as he reclined.

Will bit his lip as he sat on the edge of the tub. He knew how this looked. He knew it wasn't technically appropriate but it wasn't like he could leave Nico alone to shower when he was already so unsteady on his feet. Nor could he trust him to bathe alone- as evidenced by the fact that Nico had currently completely submerged his head below the water. Will quickly hoisted him back up.

"Don't do that." Nico simply pushed his black hair out of his eyes and Will sighed again and started scrubbing him down. Nico _needed_ a shower too. His body was covered in several sticky substances that Will really didn't want to identify.

Will made Nico stand so he could scrub his torso and hesitated again once he reached his waist. It wasn't like he hadn't seen Nico naked before when they were kids but…. He glanced up and Nico wasn't making it easy this time. He was staring right at him with a hooded look in his eye. It was a look he hadn't seen before nor could he identify the emotion behind those eyes. Will wasn't really sure he wanted to. Something about it made his stomach tighten and caused adrenaline to enter his veins.

Will swallowed and got back to the task at hand, doing a cursory job of scrubbing over his genitals and backside while his cheeks flamed. He supposed it was good practice for when he would become a doctor.

Will moved down to his legs and glanced up again but Nico was no longer staring at him. He had his eyes closed and was biting his lip, head tilted towards the ceiling. His chest rose and fell.

Finally Will washed his hair and rinsed him down. He wrapped the boy in a large fluffy towel once he stepped out of the tub and made quick work of drying him down. He pushed Nico back into his bedroom and dressed him in pajamas. The boy moved towards the bed but Will took his hand and pulled him out of the room instead, Nico uttering a soft protest. Will lead him downstairs towards the kitchen and sat him down on a stool before heating some soup in a bowl and setting it down in front of him.

He took the boy by the chin and stared intensely into his eyes. "I want all this gone by the time I get back here, okay?" He held his gaze firmly, trying to ensure Nico would understand and remember his words.

Nico's wide eyes stared back at him as he nodded. Good.

Then Will left to take his own quick shower, hoping Nico wouldn't move or do anything to wake their parents while he was away. Once he changed and returned to the kitchen, however, he was relieved to find a still Nico sitting at the counter in front of a now empty bowl of soup. Will dumped the bowl in the sink, grabbed his brother's hand and led him back upstairs. He pushed Nico into bed and the boy was out almost as soon as his head hit the pillow. Will, however, stayed up for longer. He sat against the headboard and mulled over his options.

Should he tell his parents what happened? Undoubtedly he should, said the good, rule abiding part of himself. But then his parents would ground him and be angry and when people were angry with him, Nico got distant and the last thing his brother needed right now was to be distant. Also Nico had been grounded plenty of times in the past but it never did anything. What if his parents decided grounding wasn't enough this time and they sent him away? Will knew his brother wasn't actually an addict but what if Nico was sent to rehab? Would he get the help he needed? Or what if he was overestimating his parents and they just got mad and yelled? He knew his brother needed to be punished but he also knew he had to make sure this kind of thing didn't happen again.

He decided he needed to make Nico talk. Make him explain why what happened tonight happened, what his decision making process was. What pushed him over the edge. And if he wouldn't talk then Will would go to his parents and tell them Nico needed to see a therapist. Because either way, his brother had to talk to someone and Will suspected that he would just be more open and willing to speak to him. In the meantime, Will would have to keep a close eye on him. Keep him from going anywhere alone and getting into more trouble.

Resolved, Will laid down and pulled the covers over him, turning to face his brother where he was breathing evenly, face relaxed in sleep.

"Good night," Will whispered.


End file.
